The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-24
SECRETARY wH1rNEY's WORK.
A Record of Twelve Months of In
dustry and of Valuable Results.
From the Ne,O York Sun.

From the Nelo York sun.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19-The yeal of
naval administration, to the review of
which a large part of Secretary Whitney's
report will be devoted, is in every way one
of the most important known to the Navy
Department since the close of the civil war.
1t has witnessed the completion of the new
steel cruisers Atlanta and Boston, the fastest
and most efficient vessels now in commits
sion 1t includes the practical completion
of the Chicago, whose trial trip will be
made very soon, and which will doubtless be
regularly in commission before the meeting
of Congress-
The year has also witnessed the begin
ming of the construction of two much faster
cruisers, the Charleston and the Baltimore,
and two gunboats, all of which are now
well advanced. 1t has seen the award of
contracts for three additional unarmored
cruisers, two of which are to go nineteen
knots an hour, and the third, the Newark
eighteen knots, while all are to be power
fully armed; and simultaneously with these
contracts. others were awarded for two
more gunboats.
Still another form of construction belong
ing to this year is the dynamite gun cruiser.
This vessel, we'll advanced at Philadelphia,
is to reach the high speed of twenty knots.
and to carry three guns, each capable of
throwing projectiles loaded with POO pounds
of dynamite to the distance of at least a
mile. The Secretary has also invited pro-
posals for torpedo boat which is to have a
speed of twenty-five knots, premiums being
given for exceeding this speed, and penal
ties exacted for falling short of it. The bids
will be opened Nov. J.
The review of the twelvemonth must also
take in the planning of the 60O0-ton
armored cruiser and the armored battle
ship, which in their degree of impregna-
bility combined with battery power, will
far exceed any other vessels thus far pro-
jected for the navy. One of them will he
built at Brooklyn and the other at Norfolk,
thus greatly increasing the activity of the
yards at those two points. Besides these
new constructions, work has been resumed
on the five iron doubleturret monitors, one
of which has 5000 tons displacement and
the other four 1857 each, Finally, a Board
has been devising plans for the floating
batteries for which the last Congress
made an appropriation, and will probably
be able to report its conclusions within few
weeks.
OF vessels thus added or to be added to
the navy, we find twenty-four or twenty
five, including the Dolphin and the Stiletto,
should the latter be purchased. In addition,
| the department has been very busy during
the last year in making contracts for steel,
botn for armor and for guns, the quantity
of this material ordered from American
manufacturers being unprecedented. Gun
making has also gone on apace, and the
Washington Navy Yard has been turned
into an ordnance factory Proposals have
been also invited and received for making
steel cast guns, i'll accordance with the act
of Congress. Still another important work
has been the assignment of contracts for
building two timber dry docks, one to be
placed at Brooklyn and the other at Nor
folk
Apart from these very large undertakings
in the building of vessels, and guns and
docks, Secretary Whitney has pGt in opera
ton during the year plans of reorganizing
his department on business principles, the
chief of which is the new system of purchas-
ing and distributing supplies and keeping
accounts, which went into effect on July |.
Altogether, the year which the Secretary
will review has been busy and fruitful
one for the department of which he has
charge.